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By All Love's Soft, Yet Mighty Powers

By John Wilmot

Topics: classic

By all love's soft, yet mighty powers, It is a thing unfit, That men should fuck in time of flowers, Or when the smock's beshit. Fair nasty nymph, be clean and kind, And all my joys restore; By using paper still behind, And sponges for before. My spotless flames can ne'er decay, If after every close, My smoking prick escape the fray, Without a bloody nose. If thou would have me true, be wise, And take to cleanly sinning, None but fresh lovers' pricks can rise, At Phyllis in foul linen.

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Author:John Wilmot

"By all love's soft, yet mighty powers,..." by John Wilmot

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

John Wilmot

About John Wilmot

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–1680), was an English poet and courtier known for his satirical and libertine verse. His poems—including "A Satire Against Reason and Mankind" and "The Imperfect Enjoyment"—combine intellectual brilliance with provocative honesty.

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